Liverpool v West Ham United
Barclays Premier League
Anfield
Monday 19 April 2010
8pm
Referee: Peter Walton
• West Ham United travel to the city of Liverpool for the second time this month to take on Rafael Benitez's Reds. The club's last awayday saw the Hammers earn a 2-2 draw at city rivals Everton and a repeat or better would be a major shot in the arm for Barclays Premier League survival hopes.
• Gianfranco Zola's men went into the weekend four points clear of the drop zone, meaning that they will stay out of the bottom three whatever happens on Monday night. After the Everton result, the club won for the first time in eight matches with a 1-0 home win against Sunderland last Saturday.
• The Hammers have still not won away since the opening day of the season on 15 August, while Liverpool have been impressive at home. They have lost just twice in the top-flight at Anfield this season and taken 39 points from a possible 51.
• Gianfranco Zola will be without Scott Parker after the Hammer of the Year - and the SBOBET Player of the Month for March - was cautioned at Everton. He served the first game of his two-match ban against Sunderland.
• Liverpool go into the match on the back of their owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett confirming on Friday that they intend to sell the club. British Airways boss Martin Broughton has been appointed to oversee the sale.
• The match is almost a must-win for Liverpool if they want to catch Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur in the three-way race for fourth place - and a return to the UEFA Champions League next season.
• This is the 105th league meeting between the two sides. Liverpool have won 55, West Ham have won 21 and there have been 29 draws.
• Monday's match will be screened live by ESPN, as was the previous meeting between the clubs back on Saturday 19 September at the Boleyn Ground. West Ham have been on the losing side in the four previous matches shown live by ESPN this season.
• The last meeting between the sides at Anfield came on 1 December 2008, when Craig Bellamy hitting the post was the closest either came to scoring in a lively goalless draw. Fernando Torres did not play in the match.
Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Hyypia, Dossena, Benayoun, Gerrard, Alonso, Riera (Babel 78), Kuyt, Keane (Ngog 66)
Subs not used: Cavalieri, Agger, Mascherano, Lucas, Insua
West Ham United: Green, Neill, Collins, Upson, Ilunga, Faubert (Boa Morte 86), Parker, Mullins, Behrami, Bellamy, Cole
Subs not used: Lastuvka, Noble, Tristan, Davenport, Collison, Di Michele
Last time out
Saturday 10 April 2010
Barclays Premier League
West Ham United 1-0 Sunderland
West Ham United: Green, Upson, Spector, Da Costa, Kovac, Noble, Behrami, Faubert, Stanislas (Franco 74), Cole, Ilan (Daprela 89)
Subs not used: Kurucz, Gabbidon, Diamanti, Spence, McCarthy
Sunday 11 April 2010
Barclays Premier League
Liverpool 0-0 Fulham
Liverpool: Reina, Kyrgiakos, Carragher, Agger, Johnson, Rodriguez, Gerrard, Aquilani (Kuyt 65), Babel (Benayoun 72), Mascherano, Ngog (Pacheco 79)
Subs not used: Cavalieri, Ayala, Degen, Lucas
Last meeting
The teams last met on Saturday 19 September 2009, when Fernando Torres proved the difference in a match lit up by the electrifying pace of Zavon Hines in the Hammers' attack.
West Ham United: Green, Upson (Gabbidon 25), Ilunga, Tomkins, Parker, Noble, Behrami (Kovac 28), Faubert, Cole, Diamanti (Dyer 66), Hines
Subs not used: Kurucz, Spector, Payne, Nouble
Goals: Diamanti 29 pen, Cole 45
Liverpool: Reina, Carragher, Skrtel, Insua, Johnson, Benayoun (Aurelio 85), Gerrard, Mascherano, Lucas, Torres (Riera 89), Kuyt (Babel 61)
Subs not used: Cavalieri, Kyrgiakos, Dossena, Degen
Goals: Torres 20, 75, Kuyt 41
Last six meetings (Premier League unless stated)
19 September 2010 West Ham United 2-3 Liverpool
9 May 2009 West Ham United 0-3 Liverpool
1 December 2008 Liverpool 0-0 West Ham United
5 March 2008 Liverpool 4-0 West Ham United
30 January 2008 West Ham United 1-0 Liverpool
30 January 2007 West Ham United 1-2 Liverpool
Overall record v Liverpool (all competitions) W 23 D 34 L 62
Next up
• West Ham United will welcome Wigan Athletic on Saturday 24 April, while Liverpool travel to Spain to take on Atletico Madrid for their UEFA Europa League semi-final on Thursday night.
Referee
• Monday's referee is Peter Walton.
• Walton, 50, began his refereeing career in 1986 and was an assistant referee at the 1996 FA Cup final between Manchester United and Liverpool at Wembley. That same year, he also joined the FIFA list of assistant referees and ran the line during the Euro 96 group-stage fixture between Germany and Czech Republic at Old Trafford.
• Walton joined the Football League List of referees in 1998 and joined the Premier League Select List in 2003.
• This will be his third West Ham United game of the season, after taking charge of the 4-0 home defeat to Manchester United on 5 December and the goalless draw against Blackburn Rovers at the Boleyn Ground on 30 January.
• He has taken charge of six Liverpool games this season. The 4-0 win against Stoke City on the opening day, the 6-1 defeat of Hull in September and the 2-2 draw with Birmingham City. Those three successes all came at Anfield, before he was the man in the middle for the 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa in December and the goalless draws at Wolves and Manchester City in January and February respectively.
West Ham United
• Carlton Cole, with nine goals to date this campaign, has still never scored two goals in a game for West Ham.
• Robert Green is on a run of 122 unbroken starts in the Barclays Premier League.
• Valon Behrami has committed 34 fouls since his last caution, no other player in the top-flight has had to wait longer for a yellow card..
• Alessandro Diamanti's eight goals in all competitions has left him just one behind top scorer Carlton Cole.
• In terms of attacking ambition, Diamanti leads the Hammers statistics in terms of shots (81), shots on target (44), shots off target (37) and assists (4).
• Behrami celebrates his 25th birthday on Monday, the day after Matthew Upson turns 31.
• Mark Noble will make his 100th Barclays Premier League appearance if selected.
• West Ham have scored 41 goals this season in the league with 15 different players on target. Carlton Cole leads the way (nine), with Alessandro Diamanti (seven), Guille Franco (four), Matthew Upson and Ilan (both three) next in line. Jack Collison, Mark Noble, Junior Stanislas and Manuel da Costa have each scored twice. Finally, the departed Luis Jimenez, Zavon Hines, Radoslav Kovac, Valon Behrami, Julien Faubert and Scott Parker have also registered. An own-goal from Everton's Tony Hibbert completes the tally.
• No team has been awarded more penalties than West Ham in the top flight this season, with nine given to the Hammers and seven of them have been converted.
• Parker has been cautioned ten times this season, and his caution at Everton means he missed the Sunderland date as well as the trip to Liverpool.
• * The visitors will be looking to record their first win on Merseyside since 14 September 1963. The London side have lost on their last eight visits there since goals from Frank Lampard and Marc Keller helped secure a 2-2 draw in February 1999.
* West Ham United's last win at Anfield, on 14 September 1963, came courtesy of goals from Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst. Jim Standen also saved a penalty from Ronnie Moran in the match.
Liverpool
• Steven Gerrard leads the Liverpool in all attacking categories: shots (80), shots on target (48), shots off target (32), assists (6), crosses (115).
• Liverpool, along with Burnley, have hit the woodwork on 13 occasions this season, a league-leading statistic.
• Pepe Reina, who has just signed a new long-term contract, is tied with Petr Cech of Chelsea for the most clean sheets this season (14).
• Two Liverpool players, Jamie Carragher and Dirk Kuyt, made their debuts against West Ham. Carragher's first appearance came at Anfield in January 1997, while Kuyt's came at Anfield in August 2006.
• Striker Fernando Torres scored a hat-trick against West Ham in Liverpool's 4-0 win at Anfield on 5 March 2008..
• Alberto Aquilani received extensive treatment for an ankle injury at Chadwell Heath while still a AS Roma player in the 2008/09 campaign before his summer move to Liverpool.
• Liverpool's record home win against West Ham was a 6-0 success on 7 April 1984, a month before they became crowned champions of Europe in Rome.
Team news
• With Scott Parker absent through suspension, Herita Ilunga (tendon injury), James Tomkins (ankle), Kieron Dyer (hamstring) are all unable to return to the squad. It remains to be seen if they will figure again this season.
• Mido is available for selection after a virus kept him out last week.
• Luis Boa Morte is back in the reserves after missing the whole season to date with an anterior cruciate ligament injury and other knee problems suffered last July.
• Zavon Hines will not play again this season with a knee injury, while Jack Collison is also not expected to feature with his own knee problem.
• Liverpool have lost Fernando Torres, who has scored 18 league goals this season and 22 in all competitions, for the season after surgery on a knee injury.
• Emiliano Insua and Fabio Aurelio both have knocks, meaning Daniel Agger could continue at left-back.
• Martin Skrtel is close to a return from a foot injury but is not thought to be ready yet.
Old boys
• Liverpool and Israel midfielder Yossi Benayoun made 72 appearances, scoring eight goals, during two seasons at West Ham United. Benayoun, who turned 29 on 5 May, arrived from Spanish side Racing Santander in the summer of 2005 before leaving for Anfield in July 2007.
• Glen Johnson, 25, came through the ranks at West Ham, making 15 league appearances in the 2002/03 season. He was transferred to Chelsea for £6m in summer 2003 and subsequently moved on to Portsmouth before Liverpool snapped him up in June 2009.
• Liverpool and Argentina defensive midfielder Javier Mascherano spent half-a-season with West Ham United between August 2007 and January 2008. The 24-year-old made seven appearances in all competitions for the Hammers.
• Among the other players who have represented both clubs are Craig Bellamy, Tom Bradshaw, David Burrows, Titi Camara, Charles Cotton, Julian Dicks, Ray Houghton, Don Hutchison, Paul Ince, David James, Rob Jones, George Kay, Mike Marsh, Neil Mellor, Neil Ruddock, Danny Shone, Rigobert Song and Thomas Stanley.
General information
• For ticket information, click here. For details on getting to Anfield, click here
• Monday's weather forecast in Liverpool is for an overcast evening with temperatures peaking around the 8C mark.